The new teachings of Jesus

Much of what literalists accept as "true" is already add-ons. We have some who take their "orthodox" theology from commentaries rather than the Bible. We even have some who get their theology from Kirk Cameron videos. Most of the literalist "understanding" of the first part of Genesis comes from creationist videos, not the Bible.Would literalists accept "new" theology from extra-Biblical sources? Of course.Would they "add" it to the Bible? No.

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What makes you think there's any difference between a skeptic and a truth seeker?

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Non sequitur. There could be lots of stuff that was lost and therefore isn't in any of the canons.
(Note spelling if "canons".)

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Now that's just silly. If a book or a chapter is missing, how can it be demonstrated? Look for evidence of torn-out pages?You're claiming that absolutely positively nothing has ever gone missing from the Bible. That's like walking into Wal-Mart and saying, "Nothing has ever been stolen from this store."I'm simply stating the sensible alternative: It is very possible that something has gone missing and you would never know about it.

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Whoa whoa whoa. You're asserting that there are "66 books" and you're complaining about my "assertion"?I'm asking you: How do you know that there weren't originally 67 books? Or 167 books? If you're going to assert that "the Bible" is 100% complete, then you're the one who has to provide evidence.Strictly speaking, this topic is about adding to the Bible, so let's do a suppose.Suppose a shepherd boy is playing in some caves - say near the Dead Sea - and he happens to find a fragment of parchment that says, "The Gospel According to Earl...." How would you decide whether or not to add the Book of Earl to the canon?How would you know whether or not it had been lost for two thousand years?Do you think the Roman Catholics would agree with you and add it to their canon? How about the Rumanian Orthodox? How About the Ethiopian Rosicrucian Stevedorians?In short, how do you know that there are 66 books in "the Bible"? How do you know that not a chapter, not a verse, not a word, not a letter has been lost from any of those books?

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A worthy question, but that's not the topic.The OP question is:

quote:

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Would the brand new chapter in the Bible become retroactively literally true?

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So, if a "lost" book, chapter, etc. was found, how would you decide if it was authentic?

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Well, you've been denying vehemently that anything could be missing. In my very first post to you in this thread, Message 40, I said:

quote:

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There could be lots of stuff that was lost....

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If you agree with me now, I'll ride off into the sunset and leave the rest of them to feed on your carcass.

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So there's no possibility of ever finding any lost fragments, and even if we do, we have your instructions on how to handle them.I guess the topic is finished then.

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On the contrary, there is no credible evidence to suppose that your magic "66 books" are all there is.Once again, Wal-Mart. You're claiming that everything that was ever in Wal-Mart is still in Wal-Mart. Nothing can ever be added, nothing taken away.

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Pay attention: There is no one canon.Whatever application the schools of Higher Criticism may have, they have not settled on one "Bible".

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Yes. Thanks for conceding that.

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